Duarte man killed in hit-and-run

DUARTE — Authorities asked the public’s help Thursday in tracking down a hit-and-run driver who fatally struck an 86-year-old Duarte man in front of his home as he returned from Christmas shopping.
Gabriel Barragan Abundio died at the scene of the crash, which was reported about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 18000 block of Buena Vista Street, near Duarte Road, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Sidra Strong said.
A longtime resident of Duarte and former horse groom and Santa Anita Park and other area racetracks, he is survived by 12 children — six daughters and six sons — as well as dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren, his son, Silvester Barragan said.
“My father was a good man,” he said. “Everybody knows him.”
Abundio was crossing west across the street mid-block in the residential neighborhood when he was struck by a southbound vehicle, Strong said. That vehicle, which officials described only as dark in color, then fled the scene.
Barragan said his father was walking home from a nearby bus stop after a Christmas shopping trip to the Westfield Santa Anita Shopping Mall in Arcadia when he was struck. One of his daughters was cooking dinner for him at his apartment.
He added that his father, who was in good health, enjoyed life.
“He liked to say hi to everybody,” Barragan said. “He enjoyed a lot of walking. He tried to live a peaceful life.”
Born and raised in Oaxaca, Mexico, Abundio moved to California in the late 1960s and brought his family to Duarte in 1976, Barragan said.
Through his career as a groom at Santa Anita Park, Hollywood Park and the Del Mar Racetrack, Abundio met many famous jockeys and trainers, his son added.
Barragan said he was shocked that the “ruthless” driver did not stop to help his badly injured father after striking him.
“My father had a broken skull,” he said. “I wish the guy who did the damage would turn himself in.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s Temple Station.

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